You can also say goodbye to the holidays that many employees enjoy, both the annual x number of weeks and the statutory holidays, at least until your business is established to the point that you can manage your own time.

6) You have to be able to deal with uncertainty.

As a self-employed entrepreneur, there’s no guarantee that the products or services you offer will be in demand six months from now. There’s no guarantee that your customers will pay their bills on time or even pay them at all. There’s no guarantee that your current big client, who seems to be perfectly happy with your work, won’t drop you next week. (Read How to Soothe an Angry, Annoyed or Otherwise Disgruntled Client for helpful advice if you’re worried.)

There’s actually no guarantee that you will make any income this month or the month after. For many ex-employees who are used to having a pay cheque arrive regularly every two weeks, the uncertainty of being self-employed is very difficult to deal with.

Ready, Set, Go?

Are you still asking, “How do I start a business?” Good! Because the point of this article is not to scare you off, but to make you aware of how you have to readjust your thinking to make the transition from employee to self-employed business owner.

Hopefully as you read through this list of traits you need to become successfully self-employed, you were saying to yourself, “I can do this”. Because every one of the traits I’ve listed here is an attitude or behavior that can be learned, and when it comes to being self-employed, awareness is more than half the battle.